Game apparatus



H. ADAMS.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man MAY 2o, 1920.

aq/ented Feb. 25.9%.

- ifm/gwn??? 5mg! @www HARRY ADAMS, THE UNTTED STATES NAVY.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. i5, 192i.

Application led May 20, 1920. Serial No. 382,916.

To all 'whom t may concern.: i

Be it known that I, HARRY ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, of theUnited States Navy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGame Apparatus; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the inacter to pool or billiards, and itcomprises an apparatus constituting. a board, a plurality of balls onsaid board, a plurality of pockets or indentations into which said ballsare to be projected, and an impeller adapted to coperate with one ofsaid balls whereby other balls of the series may be driven into thecorresponding pockets or indentations.

Tn order to el'ect the operation of the cue ball I use, instead of anordinary hand-operated cue, a mechanical impeller comprising a leverprovided with a weighted arm and a spring-returned plunger,adapted to becaused to strike said lever and throw the weighted arm into suddencontact with the cue ball, whereby suilicient velocity is imparted tothe said ball to accomplish the results desired; the force of the blowimparted to the ball being dependent upon the nature ot the blow appliedto the plunger.

My invention will be more fully understood after reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like parts are indicated by similarreference symbols throughout the several views, and in which Figure l isa plan view of the board constructed according to my invention andshowing 15 balls in addition to the cue ball, with a number oi' recessesinto which said balls are to be impelled, together with a view of theimpeller resting on said table.

Fig. 2 shows a section along the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 3 shows a section along the line 3 3 of Fig. l, and looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the impeller in the distended position.

Fig. 5 shows a central section through the impeller of Fig. 4, the levercarrying the weighted arm being shown in elevation, and the ball aboutto be struck being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 6 is a similar view to Fig. 5, but shows the plunger in the loweredor operaltive position with the ball started on its flight; and

Fig. 7 is a view of one oi' the balls used in the apparatus.

A represents a table having the usualv pockets a, at the corners andsides thereof, being generally similar, but on a smaller scale, to theordinary l-ball pool table. This table may be provided with grooves a ateach end thereof to receive the balls B" after the same Vhave beenpocketed. The balls are shown 1n these grooves or racks in full lines,and their pyramidal arrangement on the table is shown in dotted lines.The table may be also provided with the usual spots a2 for the initialposition of the cue ball, and a3 for the initial position of the numberone ball of the pyramid. i

B represents the cue ball, which may be of special design or color, orgenerally similar to the other balls.

E represents the impeller or operating device adapted to take the placeor" the ordinary cue ball used in pool or billiards, or the mallet usedwith croquet or similar games. This impeller comprises a heel member Eprovided with the pin e on which the lever F is pivoted. This lever` hasa short operating arm f and a weighted arm 7. The heel member E isprovided with a spline groove c in which projects a guide pin e of theplunger sleeve E2, which plunger sleeve is preferably made in tubularform and conta-ins a return spring H.

This sleeve E2 is preferably provided with an air vent e2 to preventexcessive cushioning effect ot the air therein.

The complete apparatus for a miniature pool game is indicated in Fig. l.

In order to use the device to play miniature pool, up-end the impellerand move it with the weighted arm f close against the cue ball, as shownin Fig. 5; then a sudden blow on the top of the sleeve E2 will cause thelower end of said sleeve to strike the arm f of the lever F, imparting aquick movement to the weighted arm f and throwing the ball outward. Theforce of the blow imparted to the ball will, of course, depend weightedarmsired a light blow only may bev given -to the sleeveV E2, while if astronger shotis desired the blow would, of course, be harder. TheYdirection of the initial path of theballfcan` be determined by properlypositioning the It will be o vious that considerable dexterity may beobtained vafter-practice in imuvr` partirngf the proper velocity, to theball, or in' Vstarting the ball in the proper direction; Y

Vhile' fihave shown the invention as appliedV to propelling balls onatable, for instance-Tin apparatus `for playing Vl-ball poolinvminiature', it will be obviousthat theimpellers maybe'used orplayingbilliardsonl a miniature scale and used to impel balls on a lawinesin'miniature croquet, golf; orthe like; the idea being that the "ball isstruclrbya weighted arm and inipelled lin the desired direction andjthatthe velocity imparted to` the ball will depend upon the nature ofthe blow imparted to theimplement itself and transmitted by it to theball.

Itlwill be obvious that various modiiications mightbe'made iny thehereindescribed apparatus,v4 and intheconstruction, combina# tion andarrangement of 'parts which could be usedwithout departing from thespirit of? my `invention*;and `lido notmean to limit the kinvention ftosuch.V details except-'as particularly pointed "out 1n the claims.

Having thusdescribed my` invention'I what l claim and desire tosecure byLetters Patent of the United States is I plurality of balls, and animpeller having a heel piece,a lever pivoted to said heel piece andhaving a striking arm adapted to strike ,the ball, and a hollow plungerslidably mounted on said heel piece and adapted to operate said lever;

2;V Game apparatus comprising a table, a plurality of balls, and animpeller having a heel piece, a lever pivoted to said heelpiece andhaving a striking arm adapted to strike the ball, and a hollow plungerslidably Vmounted on said heel piece and adaptedV to l operate saidlever, withVV a return spring mounted in said hollow plunger. Y f3. Animpeller for use in game apparatus Vof the character described;comprising a heel piece, a hollowV plungerfslidably mounted thereon, anda bell cranlrleverpivoted to said heel piece and having an arm adaptedtofengagesaid plunger, and a second arm `adaptedfto strike vthe ball;

l.V Game apparatus comprising a table,

4. An impeller for use in game apparatus Y of the characterdescribed,"comprising a heel piece, a f hollow `plunger y slidablyimounted thereon, a return spring'rinclosed in saidVV plunger, andxa`bellcranlr lever pivoted toA saidfheel piece'` and` having an armadapted to engagesaid plunger, anda second arm:

